The Diary
by Vonpohl
Summary: Tom Riddle has been trapped in his diary waiting for something to happen to him. Hermione Granger is a lonely school girl. When she finds his diary and starts talking to him she thinks she's finally found some one she can trust, but can she really? AU TMH
1. Prologue

In reference, these characters and places are obviously not mine. This is the only chapter that will be in diary form so if you can manage to get through it, the second chapter _is_ better.

Prologue

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A sleepy Tom Riddle sat in the faded light of the library scribbling away. If anyone had been watching him, they would have merely thought he was scribbling notes for potions class. But he knew that there was no way that anyone would be watching him.

But as he scribbled one would have only wondered what he was writing. For underneath his proud exterior was an angry agitated boy, a boy whose secrets are _irresistible_ to read...

_Late August,_

_You would think that I, Tom Riddle, head boy would be happy. I, the boy who would bring eternal glory to the house of Slytherin would be pleased in my existence. _

_But no, I have been lost and forgotten for what seems like ages for me. You see, I haven't left Hogwarts library in years. I know that might seem odd to some, well actually to most. For me, it is only natural. I have been sitting in the same spot for years now. _

_I've been sitting here, back in the restricted section of the library writing this; every once in a while catching a glimpse of a student's memory hovering in my library._

_Such petty children they all are. It will only be a few more days till the rest of the students come back. I will still be waiting to be called upon by my older self. It has been so long._

_Well anyway, enough about my plotting and scheming about what I will do someday._

_I often find myself longing to revitalize myself but I know it's still to early, still too easy to get caught by a certain peasant in the back grounds of the school. That Hagrid fellow, the one I framed so I could get away with what I did. It was genius what I did, only Dumbledore believed him that he was innocent. But not even Dumbledore was strong enough to keep him from being expelled. I wonder if he ever thinks of me and how he failed._

_I guess with me sitting here so long, I've grown bitter. But I deserve to be bitter; anyone would be after sitting here this long._

_This actually is the first time I've ever written in this diary. When I say that I can't help but laugh, for I am this diary. I've been trapped in it, living in it, growing in it, but always staying the same. I've been alone for so long I guess I've gone crazy with loneliness that I'm writing to myself now. Well, in a way I guess I'm writing to you, my friend that I will never meet._

_Hell, I'd give any thing to just even talk to that oaf Hagrid. I'm THAT lonely. The last time I spoke with some one was the night I put my self in here._

_I remember it as if it was yesterday._

_I snuck up into the common room during transfiguration. I knew that the house would be empty with most of its students in class. I pulled out this old diary I had gotten for Christmas from my Muggle orphanage, being as though it had been my last Christmas there. Not that I had been present of course, Slughorn had told me it was just common courtesy for them to send me a gift. My only family he had called them. What a laugh that had been. _

_I had hidden it from under my bed, when I pulled it out it took a great deal of blowing to get off the dust and spiders. Once I had it I ran down into the library walking right into the restricted section and no one even took notice of me. They never did, or if they did it would to say "Hello Tom!" or "How are you doing Tom?" I was always polite. They believed themselves to be my friends; they still would if I ever saw them._

_I had nothing against those who were loyal._

_I found a small space on the top shelf to put my book, this book, me. I climbed a ladder to get up to it, I set it in there making sure none of the pages were bent and it was properly placed. I then preformed one of the darkest spells in the history of magic, sending me, or the memory of me into the diary preserving my 17 year old self. _

_But something in this rare spell I cast, something in it seemed to seal this book in time. Not freezing it of course, but something else. When I read about the spell, one of the effects was that the book itself would be forever. Where ever I placed the book, people from all ages, long before or long after my time could find it. _

_That in of its self frightened me. What if someone from hundreds of years before my time came and moved the book? Or even worse, destroyed me? How would my other self ever succeed with out me? _

_I don't think I planned hard enough for the boredom I would face. I mean inside this diary is an exact copy of Hogwarts, although it's darker for it is only a memory. The colors seem faded like an old picture._

_But I am alone; no one is here with me, not a living thing, no people, no dragons, no creatures in the forest, not even a mouse._

_Only me._

_I've memorized the whole grounds of this school, even the little village next door. But places I'd never been to before I came into this book just aren't there. It's like I can walk up to the end of a painting and fall off into darkness for eternity._

_Actually I've never tried falling nor do I want to. I really don't want to find out if I'll fall for ever into oblivion. It doesn't really sound that entertaining. But I want to leave this place; I want to go back to the outside world. I've learned thousands of spells that are inside this faded library of my memory. You wouldn't believe all of the Dark Arts spells that are in the restricted section. Good god, I could go on forever learning these spells and making up new ones._

_But one can only go on learning spells for so long before they die of boredom. For that matter, I don't even know if I can die. When I think about my life as it is I only get depressed, but then I think about how my other self is out there gaining power. I wonder if my other self dies, being as though I am a memory and me out there is the only one who knows about me, will I be forgotten? Will I cease to exist?_

_I know that the only way out is for me to take some one, to drain them to use their energy to make myself whole again. But first I must wait till some one comes and finds me._

_But even then, will I have the heart to take their life so I can have mine?_

And with that the boy put away his quill and diary, blowing out his candle before he left the library to journey off into the darkness.


	2. Sneaking amongst the silent

Ok. So here's chapter two. AMAZING!

Now I guess I ought to get a few things strait. This story doesn't follow along with the books timeline what so ever. This actually takes place as if Hermione had never joined into Harry and Ron's friendship. Most the little adventures that the trio went on have not happened in accordance with this story. So Harry is more of a normal teenager (who so happened to live after Voldemorts attacks) trying to get through school like any other normal wizard teen.

So, going with that guideline, the chamber of secrets was never opened, although things such as the tri-wizard tournament and the whole boy who lived thing have happened. Don't quote me on all of this; we'll see where it goes.

Insert disclaimer here

**Sneaking amongst the silent**

Hermione sat on the edge of her bed, dinner had just ended and the late stragglers had finally finished filling into common room. She had what she wanted most when she was writing in her diary, _privacy_. But, not a single person would have even considered giving her writing a second glance.

No, Hermione Granger only had herself to worry about, and no one ever worried about her.

_Dear Diary,_

Hello again, I guess this will probably be my last entry in this diary. I mean, I've written in you since my first year. I wouldn't say I've done it faithfully, but I've always come back to you… its not like I have many friends out here in this so called 'real' world. Actually, I don't really have any at all. There are people I talk to, but they aren't really my friends. Well there is Neville; he's my friend I guess. I'm just not very outgoing with people. I wish I was, I just I get so lonely holding in all of my secrets, only having you to talk to.

It's our first day back at Hogwarts, the new first years have already been assigned to their houses, and the remains of the feast have been cleared up (I skipped the feast again. The sorting used to be fun, now it's just dull. It's not like I'm going to be seeing the new students next year anyway.)

But, I do have good grades and I am head girl so, there's nothing to worry about. This is my last year at Hogwarts, so soon I can go out into the world and do as I please. I do really love it here, but its not as if I plan on teaching, I might but… I feel a sense of lacking in that profession. 

_Honestly, I would just love to sit in the library and just pull up a good book. Oh hell, speaking of the library I was supposed to go take a book back before it's late. (I stole it over the summer, don't want a professor to go looking for it and find out I have it) Damn. I guess this will be my last entry, so, my dear Diary I write in you now for the last time, good-bye my dear old friend._

-Hermione Granger

Smiling, Hermione closed the old tattered diary. Gently wrapping it in an old shirt she placed it in the trunk at the foot of her bed. Inside the over sized trunk, that's where all of her Hogwarts treasures were hidden. Whispering a quiet spell to ward off any would-be thieves, she quickly rushed to get the library.

"Better get to the library before the feast is over," she muttered sarcastically. Dinner was clearly over judging by all of the students laughing downstairs. Hermione often skipped meals, going other places that few students had ever dared. She would often go hunting in the library, and then find some hidden room to read in peace and quiet. She had actually found the book she was returning in the restricted section. The book itself was amazing, filled with maps of everywhere imaginable, including Hogwarts and all of its secret passages along with it.

Hermione smiled smugly as she left her room and headed out. Very few would every guess that she would ever sneak out at night, that's what six years of good behavior earn you. _If only they knew the real me,_ she thought, _they'd probably die of fright_.

Walking through the common room, Hermione attempted to avoid the other students. In the corner the famous Harry Potter played a game of wizard's chess with his friend Ron. Hermione stared at them long enough for Ron to catch her and laugh. Blushing, Hermione jerked her head away.

Ever since they had made fun of her in their first year, Hermione tried to avoid Ron as much as possible. Harry wasn't so bad; he was actually rather passive towards her. The problem seemed to be Ron actually, he was always commenting about her hair, as if she was a Slytherin snob. Just as she reached the door, Neville Longbottom came running up to greet her.

"Hermione!" He shouted throwing a book in her face. Hermione paused to read the title 'Herbology for the advanced, a complete book on advanced Herbology'. Neville glowed with pride.

"I just got it, I can't wait to read it. You ever heard of it before Hermione?" Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Oh, even better! You can read it when I'm finished… if you want to that is," Neville blushed.

Hermione held back another sigh. Herbology was not particularly her favorite subject, even though she did well enough in the class when she took it. She smiled, "Sure, I'd love to read it," She lied.

Neville glowed as they looked at large staircase outside the room. "Where were you? During lunch I mean, that is well..." he stuttered looking down at his feet.

"I was in my room. I wasn't feeling up to eating..." She easily lied, slightly annoyed by his constant badgering. But, Neville was her friend, sort of; she at least figured that she couldn't brush him aside like the other students.

He suddenly snapped up at her, "No! You were skipping out again! Just like you always do!" He struck a pose, his one hand pointing to her nose as the other was ready to withdraw his wand. In all truth, the boy looked horrendously stupid. Everyone in the room had stopped to look at them. It was well known that the boy could hardly do anything with his wand, other then blow up the occasional student. A snicker came from the direction of Ron and Harry.

Nervous, Hermione searched for a good way to get the eyes off of her, so she feigned a faint, "Oh no! You've caught me in the act! Now I'm going to die a slow sad death…" She gracefully swooned backwards falling through the doorway away from the daunting eyes of the students.

Neville followed after her stopping at the doorway. "You're not supposed to leave the common room, some new rule students aren't allowed out after dark." Hermione paused. Although rules really weren't a problem, there was now the threat of getting in trouble. That last threat loomed in the air.

Get caught; get detention, ruin an almost perfect record.

Not get caught; gain a whole restricted library worth of knowledge.

Hermione chose the last one.

So, she started to head out knowing that Neville would never leave the common room after hours. Neville also knew that if he ever told teacher about her sneaking out, he could loose his only friend.

"Hermione," Neville called as she started to descend the first flight of stairs.

Hermione stopped and turned back to face him, "Yes Neville?" She tried not to sound annoyed.

"I was just wondering if you'd like to-" He stopped, his eyes growing large. "I, I'll just be heading back up to the room now. Uh, Yeah." He stuttered and ran. Hermione looked around to find out what had made him scamper off so fast.

Professor Dumbledore was headed up the stairway towards her.

Immediately she slammed up against a wall as if trying to hide herself. Then sense got the better of her. She was head girl; she could be out at night, why was she hiding! 

Slowly she sauntered past Dumbledore trying to look as if she was on a mission. He turned and watched her as she past, "Ms. Granger, where are you going?"

Hermione gasped and almost tripped, "Oh professor! I was, just running down to the… hospital wing… em… Neville needed some sleeping potion. Bad dreams you know. Slytherins burning the green houses again… You know Neville." She started to laugh nervously.

Hermione was terrified that he would tell her to get back into her dormitory but then he turned away readjusting his hat. Hermione let out a huge, long sigh of relief.

"Going to get sleeping potions… That's a funny one…Sneaking off to see some boy perhaps… Maybe a Slytherin…" The portraits on the walls whispered.

"Shut up," Hermione scoffed and ran the rest of the way to the library.

After what seemed a long time, she finally reached her destination. Easily opening the locked door using her wand, Hermione quietly slinked into the library. Trying to avoid making any noise turned out to be a more difficult task then she thought it would be. It seemed that every step she took the floor seemed to squeak. If she was caught, she could only imagine what kind of trouble she might be in.

Heading straight to the restricted section, she kept her eyes open for signs of teachers. Madame Pince, the Librarian could easily be avoided, she slept like a rock. Hermione was more afraid of a teacher like Snape sneaking up on her. More then once when she had tried to sneak into the library, she had found Snape already lost in some book. She hadn't dared talk to him, fearing a year's detention.

By her third year, Hermione had already read most of the interesting books in the student library. She had quickly decided that she could easily learn what ever spell was placed before her. She felt that she was too intelligent to be wasting her time learning such trivial spells they taught in class. So one day on a whim, she broke into the restricted section and made herself comfortable.

Rows and rows of ancient dusty books greeted her in a silent moan as she past by. Since it had been summer, no one had even had the chance to come in a sweep the dusty floor or clean off the books. Of course, only Snape seemed to ever go into the restricted section. And actually, the restricted section always seemed dusty, even after it had been dusty. _Is this how they treat things that the public doesn't see? Such disrespect…_ She thought and pulling a random book off of the shelf. The book looked like it had more dust on it then any of the others. Blowing away the multiple layers of grime she read the title.

**_How to mummify the dead and living, a natural pass time!_** She put the book back trying to shake the disturbing images of mummification out of her head. _Why would you want to mummify the dead? Or the living for that matter!_

Hermione looked around for the books place, _second shelf down from the top,_ she mentally told herself pulling the libraries ladder over towards were she thought it should go. Looking around for quite a long while, searching for its exact spot, she finally gave up and shoved it where it looked like it would fit. Sorry, she mentally apologized to the books.

That's when she noticed something.

A book.

Now, seeing a book in a library was not that big of a deal. But, all of the other books were ancient, moldy and thick, while this one was much thinner and shorter. "That's odd," she mumbled tilting her head in wonder. Its color wasn't that of an ancient leather book like those of the others, it was scarlet red. Nothing in the restricted section had any color like that. Hesitantly, she brushed away spider webs and pulled the little book out of its hiding spot.

Across the cover in gold lettering read,

_Tom M. Riddle_

Hermione stared at it for a moment thinking to herself before opening it up. Somewhere she had heard that name before, she thought back on all the books she had read. Unable to remember, she flipped through the blank pages, nothing but the occasional crease here and there. Climbing down the ladder she sat down leaning against the shelves thinking about why a blank book would be in the restricted section. But actually, it seemed to her that the book would be perfect for her new diary.

_Tom M. Riddle_

It seemed so familiar to her, yet she couldn't seem to place it exactly. _Tom Riddle_, the name seemed to role off of her tongue. Riddle, she liked it, whispering it over and over to herself. Thoughts began racing through my mind, who was Riddle? Was he even a person or just some name printed on the side of a book?

Closing her eyes and smiling to herself, she began creating an image of the perfect boy, Tom Riddle. He would be tall, she decided, and strong. Definitely strong enough to carry her books to class. An air of finesse and pride would follow him where ever he would go. Tom Riddle would be a boy worthy of leading a revolution amongst the whole wizard world's people…

Such frivolous ideas, boys leading revolutions… The thoughts quickly fled back into the depths of her head where they had come from. Even though she was head girl, she still thought about boys. She just didn't think about any boys at Hogwarts. Neville, maybe, but who couldn't think about the nitwit? He was always in her face, asking how to mix a potion or blowing something up.

And of course there were the pretty boys that everyone adored, like Harry and Draco Malfoy. Harry was adored because he was 'the boy who lived,' he wasn't that unattractive and he was fairly intelligent. Harry had all the mysterious nerdy boy looks going for him. While the Slytherin boy Malfoy…

He pretty much just had the sexy blonde look going on for him. He wasn't stupid, but he wasn't the brightest or kindest either. Passing by him in the hall way one had to always be prepared for an insult.

Not exactly Hermione's dream boy.

Not like Tom Riddle. Her new secret friend to tell her secrets to…

"Is anyone in here?" A raspy voice called from the direction of the doorway. Jumping, she huddled in the farthest corner and curled up in the shadows

"Is anyone here?" The voice called again coming closer. A small light from a lantern to come into view casting shadows over the books. When it grew close enough, she could see that it was just Filch.

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Hermione continued to stay put.

"No, no one is here Mrs. Norris. You must be seeing things." Filch went off mumbling, back to depths of the castle.

Climbing back to her feet when it was safe, Hermione began sneezing and coughing up a storm from the unsettled dust. Making sure her book was safely tucked inside her pocket; she fled from the library and made her way through the school. It wasn't till she was safely back in her room when she finally stopped to catch her breath.

Quietly grabbing a quill and climbing onto her bed, she closed the drapes around her and opened the book. "Lumos," she muttered to her wand creating a small light off of her wand. Thinking, she began to wonder how to start her new diary. 'Dear diary,' sounded too feminine for Hermione, but 'Dear journal' sounded way too formal as well. That's when she got an idea.

Smiling, she began to write,

_Hello Tom,_

_I, Hermione Granger, promise to write to you telling you all of my secrets and events of my daily life. Only to you will I tell these things, and forever will you hold them. Binding us always together. Do you accept? _

"Of course you accept," She mumbled looking over at the light coming off of her wand wondering what time it was exactly. It must be really late; she thought considering none of the students had been in the common room when she had come back. _Yes, definitely off to bed then._

Just as Hermione whispered for her wands light to end, the words she had just written in the diary faded away being replaced by new.

_Yes, I will hold your secrets, and you Hermione, you shall forever belong to me. _

The words faded before Hermione ever saw them. Yawning, she stretched and placed the Diary under her pillow for the night.

"Good night Tom," she whispered closing her eyes and faded into the dream world.

_And to me alone._

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By the way, if you see any mistakes (via spelling grammatical errors yadda…yadda.. blah blah)… I'll get around to fixing them. Any questions feel free to ask. R/R!


	3. I am Tom Riddle

I've come to notice… I am writing Hermione a bit OOC. Which I really don't like at all, nope, not one bit. But, yeah………. Anyway. There was something I was going to say but now I have no idea what it was.

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Hermione awoke the next morning bright and early. Never one to sleep in, Hermione was usually the first student down for breakfast... Other then Neville that is. She yawned and ran to take a quick shower. After she got dressed, she went to leave to go to the common room but she paused and looked into the mirror.

She wasn't unattractive, she decided. She actually thought she was rather pleasant to look at. She was a natural beauty, not a plastic make up girl. Ever since her third year she had begun to use potions to calm the frizz in her hair. She didn't want to give Ron any more reason to make fun of her.

"Hermione!" She heard Neville call from the common room. He knew she was very strict on her schedule; she was always up and heading down to breakfast the same time everyday.

Hermione bit her lip and grabbed her books before running down the stairs. Neville waited at the doorway just outside the common room.

"H-hey Hermione!" He stuttered.

"Hello Neville," she smiled. Neville blushed dumbstruck.

Hermione sighed at Neville's reaction. It started in her sixth year, Neville liking her and all. She didn't mind him, but Neville was, well, Neville. She didn't know what she would do if he ever gained enough courage to actually ask her out on a date.

They walked together in silence down the moving staircases. When they finally reached the great hall after a long drawn out silence; Hermione held back and scampered off to the Library without Neville knowing it.

Hermione was itching to know about why the empty book she had found was in the library. She couldn't very well go and ask the librarian about it, since the book was in the restricted section and all.

Hermione thought about it the whole way down, only as she stepped inside did she get an idea. Back in the depths of shelves, there was a book filled with names of students going back as far as anyone could remember. Actually, it wasn't just one book; it was shelves full of these books. The students were filed alphabetically, each letter in the alphabet having its own book or books.

She greeted Madame Pince with a smile, Hermione was one of those rare students that Pince didn't have a deep hatred for, her hatred for the student was only mild. And that mild distaste was due to the fact that in her second year, Ron spit in one of the library books Hermione was reading. Madame Pince didn't care who had done it, the deed was done and in her mind the book was ruined.

As Hermione strolled past the shelves, she heard whispers from the students around her.

"…what a freak…" came a girl's voice from a group of Slytherins. Hermione quickened her pace, "Look at how stupid her bushy hair is…"

Hermione dared not look up at the girls. If there had been only a few of them, Hermione would have held her ground. But Slytherin girls, like wild dogs, traveled in packs. Hermione wouldn't stand a chance against a whole slew of death eater juniors if they decided to attack her.

Ducking in and out of the shelves, Hermione finally found the rows of records. She looked at the top row of books all entitled with the letter A, she had underestimated how many students had attended Hogwarts. Looking around, she finally found the shelves with the books entitled R.

She went through the books fairly fast till she found the book with the names that began with RI.

"Now, to find Riddle…" Hermione muttered pulling the huge book off of the shelf. She had a hard time hulling the book over to a nearby table. "Thing must weigh a hundred fifty pounds!" Hermione wheezed under her breath. Obviously, she was exaggerating, but it didn't feel like it to her.

The table shook when Hermione dropped the book onto it. Madame Pince snapped her annoyed glance in Hermione's direction. The girl's lip twitched up into a nervous smile as she shrugged. Pince's gaze was only broken when some poor unlikely student knocked a row of books over.

Hermione decided that was a good point to find out who Riddle was and to then get out of the library as soon as possible. Opening the book, she flipped through the pages till she found the page marked with the names Riddle. There were so many students with the same name of Riddle, it was doubtful that they weren't all related some how. Next to each name was the year they graduated, the dates went back hundreds of years.

_Tom Marvolo Riddle_, Hermione read and found his graduation year, _he was at the school only fifty years ago!_

Excited, Hermione made a dash to the shelves where all the yearbooks were placed. Finding the correct yearbook, Hermione flipped through looking for the name Riddle. Finding the correct page she began running her finger down the column of listed names next to the rows pictures.

"Redden…Reed…Reece…Reynard…" Hermione bit her lip with growing impatience as she past each name. "Reynolds… Richard…Richmond…Riddle…" Hermione's heart leapt with excitement as she found the name Riddle. Quickly she scanned to find the face that would match up with Riddles.

Her heart dropped when she saw the picture. A horribly grotesque fat boy stared up at her. "Ugh!" She groaned with utter disgust, "That certainly _cannot_ be right!" Hermione counted the names again to make sure she found the correct picture.

"I knew that was the wrong one!" She congratulated herself with a smile before actually having looked on the real Tom Riddle's face. When she did look on him, she swallowed hard.

Tom Riddle _was_ her idea of a dream boy. His hair was dark and swept lightly to the side but somehow seemed to be falling back down into his face. His face was smooth and paler then the other black and white photographs, _wonder how pale you have to be to show up that pale in a black and white?_

His smile seemed to stand out amongst the students, _if he were around today_, Hermione thought, _he surely would win Witch Weekly's most charming smile award_. Under his picture the words _Head Boy_ stuck out in Hermione's mind. Hermione was too caught up in imagining Tim Riddle to notice someone standing in front of her.

"Ms. Granger!" Hermione's head shot up and she slammed the book closed.

"Yes Madame Pince?" Hermione said weakly. Hermione knew that when angered, Pince could be scarier then Snape ever dreamed of being.

"Ms. Granger," Pince started off in a false falsetto voice but it soon faded. "What on earth do you think your doing leaving books lying about off of their shelves? Do you think I want to put them back!"

"I'll get right to it Madame Pince." Hermione realized she had out lasted her welcome in the library that day. She scampered off to go put the huge records book back.

"Alright, no big deal, I can take care of this." Hermione hoisted the book up, but stepped on a fallen book causing her to tilt at an unsafe angle. "Help!" was all she could squeak out before falling forward.

Upon landing the first thing she noticed, after realizing she had fallen of course, was that something was under her.

"Hermione, would you mind getting off of me?" Hermione lifted herself up and found she was looking into the eyes of Harry Potter.

"Harry!" She cried out started and mildly nervous. If Harry was around it was a sure thing that Ron would be around any second. The both scrambled to their feet, Harry picking up the huge book for her.

"A bit of light reading?" He laughed but Hermione could only stutter out an embarrassed yes. She pointed to where the book was supposed to go on the shelves; Harry easily put it back into its correct spot. Just as she finished thanking him for helping her, she saw Ron coming towards them out of the corner of her eye.

Gasping she turned to run but was caught by Harry's outstretched hand.

"You really don't have to be so afraid you know. We really aren't half bad." He gave her a genuine smile which she did not return but chose to run instead.

Just as she rounded the first bookshelf, she heard Harry talking to Ron.

"You really are a git, you know that right?" Harry lolled his head back and rubbed his eyes when he spoke.

"So, it's not like your nice to her or anything…" Ron argued back. Hermione decided it was time to start heading up for class.

All of the classes went by fairly fast; Hermione was, like always, very involved with what the teachers were teaching. But some where in the back of her mind Harry's words replayed in her head over and over, "_We really aren't half bad_." Hermione could help but resenting him for saying that. Going through six years avoiding him and his opinionated friend, and suddenly they were being nice? No, she decided. No one just turns nice over night.

After dinner, and a small chat explaining where she had run off to that morning with Neville, she ran up to her room and pulled out Riddle's diary.

She set her quill and ink up on top of the diary as she changed out of her school uniform. Just then, Ginny Weasley came bursting through the doors into the room surround by her older class mates. Before Hermione could do anything, one of the girls knocked the bottle of ink all over the diary.

Snatching it up, she bit her lip and mentally swore to herself. Tom's diary was drenched in black ink. _It's ruined_, she thought sadly, _I killed Tom Riddle's diary_…

She took the book, the dripping quill and ink bottle into the bathroom and started to wipe up the ink off her hands. She huffed and scolded herself for being so stupid as to leave an open bottle of ink on the book where it could easily be knocked over.

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid_!

Letting out an extremely long groan, she turned to the destroyed diary.

What she saw shocked her.

Red.

The cover, which just moments before had been drenched in black ink, was now red. And across the front in gold lettering, it still read, Tom M. Riddle. Hermione picked up the book and flipped through the pages.

They were blank. No ink, nothing. That's when Hermione remembered she had written in the diary. Turning to the first page, she was surprised to see… nothing at all.

Not a speck of ink was on the book. Hermione pulled the sopping wand out and wrote on the page,

_What are you_? Hermione let out a small gasp as she watched the letters sink into the page and reappear a moment later.

_I am Tom Riddle_

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Wow. I still can't remember what I was going to say. Other then the fact that Tom will obviously be in the next chapter, I can't think of anything else.

Anyway, R/R!


	4. The ink in my veins

Ok. Now, band camp is in session and pretty much as soon as I get home… (via 10 o'clock) My mother says I have to go to bed so I won't be sick in the morning. So, this entry is excessively short. Which I apologize for… Please forgive.

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Ink in my veins

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Tom Riddle had sat staring at the diary long after Hermione had first written in it.

And he had stared at it long after she had written again.

He had sat there waiting for her to write something else but hours had past since he had said who he was. He finally took the book and moved into the kitchen to find something to eat.

Now Tom Riddle was sitting again. Only this time, he was sitting at a long countertop staring at an enormous block of cheese. Somehow, the kitchens were always filled with food waiting to be eaten by him.

_Perhaps she is afraid of me_, he thought mentally punishing himself.

_Way to go there Tom, some one finally talks to you, and what do you do? Scare em' off. _

_So stupid…_

Tom stretched flexing his aching limbs and fingers. Somehow, he knew he was stronger since the girl, Hermione, had written in him. He knew that the blood flowing in his veins was not that of a normal human being.

Taking the knife he had been using, he suddenly drove it into his left palm. Twisting and turning, his face didn't falter as he slowed down his rapid plunges into his flesh. Pulling the knife out, he held his open hand before him watching the dark liquid ooze out. It was definitely not blood, but a black ink instead.

He had felt the same for so long, the same way he felt when he had been placed in the diary. When the ink from Hermione's quill had entered his veins, he felt life flow into him.

Tom licked his hand and sighed watching the wound heal before his eyes. He hated living the way he was, not quite alive but not quite dead either. Tom had learned early on that being a memory, certain rules of really life didn't apply to him. For one thing, he didn't need to eat anymore. He did it only out of habit and sheer boredom.

Tom knocked his head on the table three times before standing up and heading back into the library. Opening his diary, he flipped through the pages reading everything Hermione and he had written to each other. Casually he wrote something down on a blank page.

_Hello Hermione. _

Tom chewed his lip thinking about what to write next when a different script started forming on the line below.

_Tom Riddle_?

Tom's heart leapt with excitement. She was writing back! Besides, what a coincidence she just happened to be there looking at his diary when he wrote in it.

_Yes_. He decided he was definitely not going to scare her again.

_How are you Tom Riddle? Tom Riddle graduated from the school over fifty years ago_.

Tom choked. Fifty years! How could it have been fifty years! He had been counting the days up in his room; it had only been a few years at the most. But, how could it have been fifty!

_I am Tom Riddle, do not doubt it. I am seventh year head boy at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am in Slytherin house, a proud pure blooded wizard. Who are you Hermione Granger_? He sat waiting for a response. So what if he lied, sure he wasn't really a pure blood but he didn't feel like bragging about his dis-qualities. Slowly the words formed.

_I am Hermione Granger seventh year head girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am in… _

There were a few minutes before she finally responded; _I am in Slytherin house as well. Top of my class… pure blood_.

Tom wondered why she had hesitated before continuing on with her description of herself. Tom had always felt that hesitation meant one of three things; fear, unwillingness to do or tell something, or lastly when someone is lying. Tom thought that perhaps Hermione was just hesitant to tell a magical book her secrets.

_How lovely, who is head master now_? He went on asking all sorts of questions, Hermione giving him answers till he finally, she said she had to go to bed.

Tom, who normally would have felt tired at such a late hour was bursting full of energy. Unable and unwilling to sleep, he stashed his diary away and went searching for his broom fully prepared to fly all night long.

--------

Now, I know you're all sitting there planning on writing evil hate letter and preparing your pitchforks, saying you know Hermione isn't in Slytherin or a pure blood and how you want to rip me head off and the like. I know that she isn't either of those things. Now follow along and it will all make sense as soon as I get an evening off…. Which might be tomorrow… but I doubt I'll post till the weekend… So yeah.


	5. The switch

Pshhh! Thank all of you reviewers, band camp had started right around when I posted the last chapter, and when band camp is in session my brain stops working. So, after two weeks it's over except for evening practices so hopefully I can get this show moving fast again. Whoot. I'll get around to fixing out the kinks later. Hopefully…

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The switch

------

Hermione lay in her bed staring at the canopy above her listening to her roommates breathing. Why had she told him she was a pure blood? Why did it even matter, he... _it_ was just some stupid book. What should it have mattered what he… _it_ had thought. He… _it_ was only a book.

And lastly, why on earth had she told him she was in Slytherin?

That right there was like… total destruction of all Gryffindor pride right there. Why had she told him she was in Slytherin, of all places!

Hermione groaned and shoved the closed diary underneath her pillow.

_I'll figure this all out in the morning_...

---------

"Hermione Granger, get your arse out of the bathroom! Neville's been screaming for you for ages!" An angry Ginny Weasley stood outside of the locked bathroom tapping her foot impatiently. A muffled response from Hermione came and Ginny rolled her eyes her gaze landing on the book lying on Hermione's bed.

Ginny glanced at the bathroom door to see if Hermione was out of the bathroom. When she was sure no one was coming, she walked over and picked the book up off of the bed.

It was highly unusual for Hermione to carry any book less than three inches thick. Ginny, knew this out of experience, not out of her love for Hermione. More then once, she had been slammed into by the bushy haired upperclassmen carrying a mile high stack of books.

Ginny read across the cover and saw the name, Tom M. Riddle written across the front. How odd, she thought and flipped through its blank pages. The next the she knew, Hermione was flying out of the bathroom. Out of surprise, Ginny dropped the book back onto the bed and seconds later Hermione snatched it up and went flying down the stairs to hear Neville calling for her.

"Hermione! We're going to be late for breakfast!" Neville moaned from the common room. Just as she took that last jump down the last three steps, Ronald Weasley began his assent up the stairs.

"What the-" Ron started to shout along with Hermione. They ended up landing in a huge slump at the base of the stairs.

"I'm so sorry!" Hermione shrieked her cheeks turning scarlet.

Ron struggled to get up. Cursing and sending insults at Hermione he managed to somehow stand up after falling five times. Hermione blushed and quickly scurried to gather her books along with Neville before grabbing his arm and fleeing the common room.

"NEVILLE!" She shrieked when they had seated themselves in the great hall. The boy twitched before looking up at her, "Yes…?"

"Neville? Did you pick up my little book?" She gestured to show how small it was. "It's a diary, some other student's diary. But it was blank, you didn't happen to pick it up did you?" Hermione asked her voice frantic.

Neville blushed and leaned back, Hermione hadn't noticed how close she had leaned into him. Instantly she recoiled and repeated the question more calmly.

"No, no I haven't seen it. But I did pick up your divination book though, you might need that." He smiled and handed her the book which was an ungodly shade of gunky looking lavender. Hermione groaned.

"Neville, I don't take divination!" She grumbled a few times into the palms of her hands.

Never, who was completely unfazed, didn't see why this was so horrible. So he continued on drinking his pumpkin juice.

"Neville! That's means Ron has my diary and I have his stupid divination book, stupid worthless book. Neville, Ron can't have my diary! I need it back!"

Neville bit his lip a moment and nodded his head. Hermione knew that Neville had no more chance of ever getting the book back then she did. He was scared and Hermione could see it in his lowered eyes.

"Don't worry about it Neville…" She sighed, "I'm sure we'll get it back somehow…."

-----

The rest of the day seemed to drag on till potions class which she so happened to share with Ron and Harry. Instead of seating her self front row center, Hermione decided it would be easiest to talk to Ron if she was closer to him. Like if she _accidentally_ bumped into him again and started up a conversation.

Yeah. Like that last part would ever happen.

But at Hogwarts the most likely things always end up happening.

About half way into the class, when the students had already begun mixing their potions up, Harry Potter turned to Hermione.

"Hey Hermione," Harry kicked Ron in the shin and Ron scoffed.

"Yeah, hello," he didn't even look up from the gunky potion he was making. Hermione on the other hand decided to cast a glorious smile at his dark haired friend.

"Hello Harry," Hermione knew he was going to ask her how to finish making the potion.

"Do you know how to make this potion? We can't seem to get it right…" Bingo. He was correct, instead of being a clear blue color, their potions looked like mud.

_How did they ever get into such an advanced potions class_?

Hermione sighed and explained, first making them start completely over. Which of course made Ron then rolled his eyes; and even after she had explained it again, he did it wrong out of spite. Near then end of the class Snape strolled over in his eerie Snape like ways.

"Mr. Weasley you would do well to follow Ms. Granger's instructions. She is the only one who is halfway confidant in making potions." Professor Snape sneered from over Ron's shoulder.

If Hermione hadn't known better she would have thought Snape to be complimenting her.

Yeah, like that would EVER happen.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for lack of proper skills." In other words, pure stupidity from Ron's part.

When Snape had moved on to torture some other students, Ron glared at Hermione.

"Thanks a lot Hermione." Ron snapped out shooting dagger. Hermione bit her lip deciding what to say,

"Sorry Ron." Harry dropped his vial he was filling with his potion. His mouth hung open at the fact that Hermione Granger had just not only spoken to, but apologized to Ron Weasley.

"Smart Harry," Ron rolled his eyes and looked at Hermione. "Look, what do you want? And I want my divination book back by the way."

Hermione glanced down for e moment before snapping back at him, "Well give me my diary back!"

Harry rolled his head back as Ron smiled smugly, "_Your_ diary? Is that what it was? Looked like Tom Riddle's diary to me, big fancy gold lettering. Use some sort of charm to keep others from reading it? Bet I could figure it out."

Hermione gasped even though she highly doubted Ron would ever figure anything out about Tom. But Harry could if he put his mind to it.

"Ron, just give her the diary back. Don't be a git…" Harry moaned picking up glass shards off of the floor.

"I'll give it back, when I've read it all." Snape, who was strolling past Ron, smacked him in the back of the head. "Fifteen points for talking." He didn't even look down at them.

Hermione found this to be hilarious. She started to laugh before she could even stop herself. Ron, who had had his back turned to her whipped around on his heels.

"Shut up!" His face turned scarlet. Before he could say anything else, class was dismissed and Hermione was pleading for her diary back once again.

"Please! Can I just have it back? It means more to me then it does to you!" She cried out her arms flailing around. She didn't even notice when she smacked Harry in the face sending the remaining drops of his potion in a new vial flying across the room and shattering on the floor. Harry's shouts of frustration went completely unnoticed.

"No I'm not going to give it back to you!"

-----

Late that night Hermione was sitting in the empty common room with a book in her lap. All of other students had gone off to bed, and surprisingly enough Neville must have gone to bed with out saying good night for she hadn't seen him since before Herbology.

Randomly flipping to a page talking about Magical Masonry through out the ages, Hermione groaned wishing she had gotten Tom back. She had been so angry she had even smacked Ron making his face match his red hair.

After all of that she had been so embarrassed she had cried to Neville in the common room during lunch. Neville had sat there holding her awkwardly whispering nonsense to her. Directly after lunch though, he said he needed to go do something and he did not come to class afterwards.

Hermione flipped the page not really reading but worried to death about Neville and Tom. _Oh this is my entire fault_!

Suddenly the fat lady portrait swung open cursing and shouting at who ever had just opened her.

"See if I open the door next time you come so late, and with the wrong password too, of all the nerve!" She screeched probably loud enough to stir some of the sleeping students.

"Stupid fat ass!" An older boy shouted back at the fat lady.

"Well I never! Get back here! You can't talk to me like that!" She shrieked hysterically. Hermione pinned her gaze to her book hoping to go unnoticed by the angry student.

"Watch me! And by the way, the new password is fat ass! Did they bother to tell you that!" He slammed the portrait closed and all shouts from the portrait were quieted.

Hermione froze as she heard him stumble around in the dimly lit room towards her.

"Stupid… Dumb… Ignorant…" She heard him cursing under head breath about Dumbledore. She lowered her head even lower praying he wouldn't notice her.

Suddenly a small thin book was dropped into her lap.

_Tom M. Riddle_

Hermione gasped and jumped to her feet setting Tom and the huge boring book on the table.

"You…" She called out in half a whisper. She ran over to the boy who had just reached the stairs. "Thank you," she whispered sincerely.

The boy turned his head slightly, but not far enough for Hermione to see his face. "Anything for you Hermione, anything…" And he sprinted up the stairs.

Hermione smiled immortalizing the moment before she remembered Tom. Who had brought him back to her? Who was an angry boy who might like her? The only angry people who she could think have belonged in Slytherin. But since when did the fat lady let in students with out the password…?

_Well that was stupid, she did just now_.

Maybe it was a Slytherin…

Rushing over, Hermione whipped out the diary. Before she could write anything words scrolled across the page.

_Hermione! What happened? _

Hermione rushed to right everything that had happened, but instead she wrote, _Tom I was so scared I had lost you_! She found herself practically crying, crying over a little talking book that she had only had for a little while. Why should she be crying over something like that? _I hate everyone here! I wish I could come to you_ -

Before she finished, a bright light erupted from the book. Scared, she tried to pull away but found herself being drawn to it. Before she knew it she felt herself being sucked into a cold spinning vortex of black liquid. She couldn't see anything but the blackness; it seemed to spin all around her.

That is, till she felt her head hit a hard surface and the world came back into view.

Hermione sat up, frantically looking around till she noticed the horrible pain in the back of her head. She wheezed holding her head trying to get her spinning vision back to focus.

That's when she saw it.

At first, it looked like a black blob standing before her, then it smoothed out to a black oval. Slowly as her vision cleared she saw exactly who and what it was.

Dark hair fell into a perfectly pale face. A Slytherin tie adorned a set of Hogwarts robes and smug look stared down at her.

"Welcome Hermione Granger. Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Tom Riddle…" She whispered before giving into the pain in her head and fainting.


	6. I Have a Proposition

Ok. Now, I made an error when writing this chapter. I wrote it, finished it and was like,

"Damn."

When I wrote it I forgot that Cho Chang was a year ahead of them… and since they are in their seventh year…. She shouldn't be there.

But that's the beauty of an AU story. So, being as though I command it, Cho is in their graduating class. So… Huzzah to that.

---

I Have a Proposition…

---

Hermione snapped up in her seat in the common room in a cold sweat. _That… was the weirdest dream I think I've ever had… _

"_Hermione… Hermione, wake up." Hermione's eyes focused from the darkness to the person hovering before her. The voice was smooth and rich, and she found as her eyes came into focus that the voice matched its owner. _

"_Tom Riddle…?" She whispered not quiet gathering what had just happened to her. Something strange had happened; instantly she sat up trying to figure out what had happened. "How… how are you… how am I…?"_

_Tom frowned and pressed her back down onto her back. At first she attempted to fight him but then she noticed she was lying on a cot in the hospital wing. Surely nothing bad would happen to her there, not while Madame Pomfrey was probably right there._

_But… she was with Tom; Tom hadn't been a student for over fifty years. Had she traveled back in time! Had he come to the present! Had…?_

_Oh Merlin she had a horrid headache!_

"_Calm down Hermione, it's going to be ok…" Tom pulled a little vial out of his robes and held it up for her to drink. She was hesitant, afraid of drinking a potion she didn't know what it was. Tom held her head up and whispered calming words to her as she drank to liquid. _

_She looked at him with a face full of questions. Tom smiled pulling the vial away and gently kissed her forehead_…

Hermione had afterwards mindlessly went through her normal morning routine, getting up, getting dressed, brushing her teeth, flying down the stairs to snag Neville who was making a fool out of himself…

She eventually managed to make it safely down to the great hall; she kept her eyes out for Ron. She felt like she needed to at least thank him for returning her book in the common room that night. But the red head was no where to be seen.

Even when Harry and Seamus came into the great hall, Ron was no where to be seen.

That's when Ginny Weasley came flying into the room with the latest gossip. She sat down at the Gryffindor table, not to far from where Hermione and a really quiet Neville sat.

The girls quickly swarmed the youngest Weasley; all questioning who was going out with whom, which teacher had been caught flirting with a student… the normal girly things they gossiped about every day.

"Oh and Hermione," Ginny said turning to her. Hermione had her mouth open and was about to take a drink.

"Yes?" Hermione blushed and snapped her mouth closed.

"Even you'd like this news, apparently my brother Ron got beat to a bloody pulp last night."

Hermione's jaw fell into her lap.

Neville started choking on his pumpkin juice.

"I thought you'd like that. He's in the hospital wing right now; he said he got ganged up on by a whole pack of Slytherins. Large, huge, Slytherin boys, he says. He said they caught him down here in the main hall last night, say's he was minding his own business when they came over and started beating him up. Of course he can't remember who they were-"

"I never knew I looked like a whole pack of huge Slytherin boys." Ginny stopped mid sentence and turned along with everyone else to face Neville Longbottom who shoved a spoon into his mouth and continued eating. After a long pause of everyone sitting there mouths ajar Neville finally looked up.

"What?"

"YOU BEAT UP RON?" They are shouted in about fifty different ways.

"Yeah, so what? He's needed it for a long time," Neville defended his ground and stared at the, his voice never faltered like it usually did.

Hermione about fell out of her chair, what the bloody hell had happened to her quiet little Neville?

Neville looked over at her with a jaded gaze and shrugged. He stood up to leave the great hall a group of Slytherins cheering at the fact that some Gryffindor beat up another one. Neville clenched his jaw and left.

As he passed, Hermione swore she saw him watching her.

News spread quickly around the school. Supposedly Ron was beat up bad enough to actually have to stay in the hospital wing for a few days. Hermione wondered what they were going to do to Neville. They couldn't expel him; it was Neville for god sake! What had he ever done other then beat up Ron? They couldn't expel him!

Could they?

Hermione ran to catch up with Neville who had avoided her all day. His quick pace and the fact that he ignored her calling, made his avoidance obvious.

"Neville…" She panted finally catching up to him. The boy had always been smaller and shorter then her back when they were younger. She had always been more powerful, but now he was older and taller.

He had long legs, he could walk fast.

Hermione had short legs. She had to run fast.

"Neville…" She said again when he didn't bother to look down at her. This time, he cast a sideways glance. "Neville! What did you think you were doing? You're going to be expelled!" Neville just shrugged.

"I doubt it, not with my good behavior… That and the fact that all the fights I've been in I've been at the receiving end. It doesn't matter anyway. Only thing I've ever been good at was Herbology. I could easily have never been a wizard and I think I'd have been just as happy." He gave her a sad smile and sauntered away.

Hermione bit her tongue. Neville… he was definitely something different.

Instead of running off to the library or to the common room like usual, Hermione found herself sitting out in the quidditch bleachers watching tryouts. Slytherins tryouts, which had ended only a short time before, had been somewhere between laughable and excruciatingly barbaric.

Gryffindor was out on the field. Since it was there final year, Harry had his moment in Gryffindor glory as the quidditch captain. Barking orders around, he seemed like a regular army commander till Hermione noticed Cho Chang had also come to watch.

That's when Harry slammed right into the quidditch post.

After falling quite a distance, he half hazardly flew up to go sit in the bleachers. He only managed to half way achieve a decent landing, meaning he landed next to Hermione instead of Cho.

"Cho is over there Harry." Hermione pointed him towards the opposing bleachers. Harry, who was still decidedly shaken dazedly, looked over in the direction that she pointed.

"Yeah, that's nice." He flopped his head back and fell over. Hermione, instead of even faking interest pulled out a book and started to read.

"Hermione?" Harry called slumping over her pile of books. Hermione gave him an incredulous look.

"Yes Harry?"

"How do you get a girls attention?"

Hermione slammed her book shut and went ridged for a moment. She ever so slowly turned to look at him.

"You might start by not slamming into things on your broom," and with that she got up and left, leaving a very out-of-it Harry and her pile books behind.

---

Late into the night Ronald Weasley strolled into his dormitory having just been released from the hospital wing. No one was awake to notice the dark black eye he was sporting thanks to Neville.

_Stupid little git_.

As he walked over to his trunk and pulled out some clean clothes to sleep in, he noticed a large pile of books next to Harry's bed.

Ron, as slow as he could be sometime knew Harry well enough that he wouldn't have a huge pile of library books. So, thinking he had to put an end to what he assumed to be an attempt of genius on Harry's part, (Why else would he have the books?) he scooped them up and sat on his bed to look at them.

Most of the books had to be over three inches thick, and he didn't understand why anyone would want such a damned heavy book till he saw a name written in the front cover.

Hermione Granger.

So it wasn't a library book after all, it was the know-it-all's books.

He sat a moment sneering to himself and rolling his eyes when it hit him, there was the diary sitting in the middle of all the giant hardbacks.

Instantly he whipped out a quill and began scribbling words onto the pages.

The night before he had decided he was going to ruin the book so he had began to write nasty things all over the pages…

'_Stupid Hermione Granger, insufferable know-it-all, I hope I ruin this stupid little book of yours. See if you ever make a fool out of Ronald Weasley again!' He wrote on the first page after dumping ink all over the cover. _

_Oh, Hermione would be so angry when he would give it back to her. She would probably start to cry or something, and then he'd go make fun off Neville to top the night off. _

_But what happened next he did not expect at all. _

'_Hello Ronald Weasley. I would like to inform you that something terrible is going to happen to you tonight if you continue on insulting Hermione.' Ron, being the twitchy fellow he was, threw the book across the floor. After the initial shock –no other wizard would have been so shocked by this- of seeing a book talking back to him he hesitantly picked it back up and wrote in it again. _

'_What the bloody hell do you mean something horrible is going to happen?' He wrote down whispering, "Stupid book" over and over under his breath. _

'_Just helping a friend, beware, he comes soon…' And with that Ron scribbled down insults and curses towards the book, none of which got it to respond again. Ron decided this was just a horrible dream of some sort and decided to go down to the kitchens for a late night snack. _

_That was where Neville Longbottom had sucker punched him in the face_.

Now, it was bad enough that it had been Neville of all people to hit him, but the fact that he ended up in the hospital wing was mortifying.

But now, the book was once again in his hands.

Before he had a chance to write anything though, words formed across the blank pages.

'_Hello again Ronald, did Neville manage to send you off packing? I told you he would_.'

Ron's face turned scarlet and he jotted down a reply.

'_Why on earth would you help that moron_?' Ron was furious. What made Neville so important?

'_Because, I needed something from him, and what do you need Ronald_?'

Thoughts of a familiar beautiful girl flashed though his mind. He couldn't help but gulp.

'_I have a proposition for you Mr. Weasley…_'

---

So….. Yeah. There you go. Band started…. Marching band takes up my life… so I haven't been able to write.

Please review for the sake of my ever deflating ego. Please don't flame…. Or throw pitchforks. But thanks to all of the reviewers!

Oh… and about the pitch forks…

They are rather pointy and hurt.


	7. I must be going crazy…

Ok. So.

I got Lazy; I got sucked into the cult of Band… Which is over by the way, we won State. Lets all do a tiny victory dance in honor of me. YAY!

But, in the end, I haven't written because I got lazy and I'm failing chemistry. Actually, I have 4 assignments due tomorrow if I have any hopes of saving my grade, but ALAS! I don't care anymore! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

-----

I must be going crazy….

-----

"Hermione…"

Hermione woke up to a start. The Diary! She had left the Diary out on the quidditch field!

Flying out of bed she rushed to find her robes in the dark room. The full moon glistened outside warning off any trespassers out of the forbidden forest.

_I can't believe I was so stupid as to forget it! Tom is going to be so annoyed with me_…

She rushed out of the room shoving her shoes on as she ran down the stairs. Surely leaving a book outside wasn't a good idea. Hell, she knew it was a bad idea, Tom would be furious if he only knew.

She tentatively tip toed through the common room, the fire had long since faded to dark embers casting long shadows across the wall. Something about the room that night, perhaps it was mixed in with the effects of the full moon, but something about the room sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Suddenly, a book was knocked off a near by table and Hermione shrieked nearly falling over. A cat scurried and hissed itself away from the book it had knocked over.

"Come now, nothing to worry about," she whispered trying to catch her breath. "It was just a-"

"Hermione…" a voice echoed ever so softly throughout the room.

"-cat." Hermione slowly started to go back up to her dorm room which she had just left. Maybe Tom would realize that he had been out all night. After all, werewolves came out the night of a full moon, no need to go get killed over it.

"Hermione…" The voice cooed into her ear. Hermione could help but jump as if something had brushed her. A shadow skidded across the wall and Hermione froze instantly. Then a familiar face appeared hiding in the shadows raising their finger to their lips gesturing for her to be quite.

"Hermione?" This time she spun around.

"Neville?" She asked quite taken aback, the voice couldn't have been Neville. She must have been hearing things.

"Hermione, what are you doing out so late?" He questioned tilting his head as if trying to get the truth out of her.

"I… I lost my diary again. I left it out on the quidditch field; I was just going to go get it." She managed to stutter out with a great amount of difficulty.

"Harry has it." He stated with out any inflection in his flat tone. Hermione blinked.

"Oh. Well then, I'll just get it in the morning I guess. Umm… Good night Neville," and with that she scurried up the stairs as fast as she could. Before going back into her snug little flat as a board mattress… she decided to use the toilet.

When she was finished, she yawned all the way over to the sink to wash up. Listening to the cool rush of the water over her hands, she decided that she wouldn't hear the voices if she didn't want to.

After all, she was Hermione Granger. She could do anything she wanted to if she tried hard enough, except fly properly of course. But other then flying she could do anything after all, except openly walk into the restricted section in broad daylight and give the librarian a piece of her mind… another thing to add to the impossible list…

"Hello Hermione."

Instantly, once again, like flying, Hermione failed in her objective to ignore the voices.

"WHAT DO YOU-" That's when she saw in the reflection of the mirror that Tom Riddle standing behind her

Did she respond calmly with a nice, "_Hello my name is Hermione pleased to finally see you in person and not as the man of… I mean, the man in my dreams… Damn, that still sounded stupid_."

No. Naturally, she didn't. Instead, she screeched, threw the bar of soap, smacked her head right into the mirror and somehow managed to have a toothbrush stuck into her hair.

After the swirls of stars stopped spinning and she realized just as to why she had actually freaked out in the first place, she flipped around to see where Tom was standing.

Being as it would be nothing but a cruel irony if he really was there, nothing was there.

She almost started to laugh in spite of the fact that she was terrified. She shook her head trying, but still unable to stop the shaky laugh. Slowly she turned around still with the stupid worried smile on her face, and then in the reflection, there stood Tom Riddle in all his bright and shining glory.

Thus, seeing him again caused her to scream and fall backwards.

"Oh bloody hell, get up!" He shouted at her.

Of course, she got up.

No one questions Tom Riddle when he's angry.

"Shut up!" She squawked and ran out of the room. She was so flustered that she hadn't even thought up a good comeback. But then again, what did it matter? She was just arguing with a figment of her imagination after all. She had obviously just invented him out of her own mind in attempts to have the diary be a real person.

_How pathetically sad_…

As she sat down on her bed she happened to look up out the window at the moon.

Or, she tried to look at the moon but the faintest image of Tom Riddle stood there tapping on the glass.

_I am NOT going crazy. This is simply a dream, I'm sure any minute now I'm going to wake up and it'll be half past noon, and the diary will be sopping wet out on the quidditch field, and Neville will have been in bed all last night and so of course he won't remember me wandering about because of course, I didn't in the first place_!

But somehow, Hermione didn't feel any better as she curled up under her blankets and drifted of to sleep continuing to mumble to herself. The tapping went on all night, and as far as she knew, Hermione was the only one who heard it.

-----

Well. I'll get around to editing it. I just wanted to get it posted.

Its to short…..


	8. Reflection

-----

Reflection

-----

The next morning of course, didn't quite go as planned. Hermione woke up bright and early to avoid all of the girls trying to get ready in the morning. She shuffled around her room not quite alert as she normally would have been, this of course was due to the terrible dream she had had the night before.

Which it was obviously was a dream after all. Of course none of it had actually happened. Things like that didn't happen in Hogwarts. No, nothing interesting ever happened in Hogwarts of course. Well, besides Neville getting attacked by every dangerous creature under the sun.

As the classes slipped by her mind was off elsewhere. Not really stuck on any one particular thought per say, she was just zoned out.

So of course, she didn't hear her potions professor when he spoke to her.

"Ms. Granger."

No, of course she didn't hear him. She was off thinking about how the little spider made his little web oh so nicely on the back of Ron's chair and how eventually it would lay eggs that would crawl into Ron's ear and eat his brain….

"Ms. Granger!"

"42!" She shrieked trying to blurt out a reasonable answer to what ever question he was asking. Snape looked at her with a look no one else ever thought he was capable of making. He actually had a facial expression other then the typical "Ron.. What are you doing now?" expression.

"42? I asked you how old you were and you answer with 42?"

"I… well… Professor-"

"Go to the hospital wing Ms. Granger." Snape ordered whipping his cape around over dramatically in that way that only Snape is capable of. As Hermione started to stutter out something Snape snapped at her "Ms. Granger, the day you start behaving like a Weasley is the day the plague comes again. I don't want you to infect the _entire_ class Ms. Ganger."

The entire class just sat there in a wide eyed state of mind, many of them questioning the meaning behind Snape's statement and whether or not he was really insulting her. Only Ron Weasley seemed to be upset by the statement.

Hermione on the other hand, stood up gathered her books in a sort of dazed expression and headed out the door.

Had Snape actually kicked her out of class? He never sent anyone to the hospital wing. He normally just made them sit there with their skin peeling off till class was over. So had he actually just thrown them out?

The thought was mildly horrifying till she looked out the window and saw and even more horrifying thing. Tom Riddle sat on a large rock next to the lake.

Instantly Hermione ran off to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was giving a potion to a younger student when she arrived however, so she had to calmly wait till the boy left.

"Yes, Ms. Granger-"

"I think I'm seeing Ghosts!" Hermione shrieked grabbing onto the older woman's collar.

Madame Pomfrey gave her an incredulous look and shoved her out of the room shouting after her, "Of course you're seeing ghosts! This is Hogwarts after all; they have a tendency to hang about for a while!" If the door had been small enough to slam, Hermione knew that Pomfrey would have slammed it behind her.

Hermione of course, was not one to be put out of her ideas just because people didn't agree with her. She would just have to go find someone who would talk to her. Someone like Neville. But of course, Neville wouldn't be out of class for sometime so instead of looking for him she headed back up to the dormitories. Only this time however, she made sure to avoid passing by the window with the view of the lake.

As she climbed the monolith of moving stair cases, she couldn't help but feel that someone or something was watching her. When she entered the great room she couldn't help but feel someone or something watching her. When she walked into her room she couldn't help but feel that someone or something was watching her.

Although, when she stepped into her room on of the house elves was busily sweeping out from under her bed. When the poor little thing realized she was there it bonked its head on the bed frame and shrieked out an apology before snapping its fingers and vanishing.

Hermione never quite understood how house elves could do that with in school grounds being as though apparation wasn't possible.

_Perhaps_, she thought, _perhaps if I could take a shower it might clear my head out some_. Hermione had no intentions of going back to class. If the malevolent Snape himself had thought her sick enough to send out of class; then _something_ had to be wrong with her.

When she went into the bathroom however, she couldn't shake the eerie feeling of being watched till she had checked over nook and cranny to see if someone, anyone was hiding in there. She even took a bunch of face power and fluffed it around the room just to make sure no one invisible was hiding about.

But no one was there of course.

She stood in the shower a good long while, just letting the water pour down her face. It was mind numbing, and that was exactly what she needed. Eventually however, after her skin had absorbed all of the water it could possibly handle she decided it was time to dry off.

It was when she had finished drying however, that's when she noticed Tom Riddle's reflection in the wall covering mirror.

She was stunned, she couldn't think fast enough to know how to react so she just stood there staring at him. All the while that she stared; she forgot to remember that she was soaking wet and only wearing a towel.

He gave her a soft crooked smile before walking off beyond the reflection.

Hermione swallowed hard in realization that either something weird was going on at Hogwarts or that she was indeed really going crazy.


	9. Seeing You

Seeing You

Tom Riddle stood at the door to the Gryffindor common room with his ever consistent glare upon his face. Hermione was proving to be more difficult then he had originally intended. The fact that she was indeed a Gryffindor and not a Slytherin was indeed disappointing but it was easy enough to say that it hardly mattered to him at the moment.

Everyone seemed to react about the same when contacting him, a few twitches, jumps, shrieks and moronic statements were a definite. Neville Longbottom, promised with the gift of bravery was easy enough to trick into doing his bidding. What Tom found so amusing was the fact that he didn't really do anything at all to Neville, he just acted as if he did. Tom could tell easily enough that Neville longed for Hermione, but he chose not to offer her up on a golden plater for him. Instead, Tom convinced him that he could preform a charm to make him more brave. Neville of course took the bait and in the end Tom didn't really even do anything at all. Once Neville believed he had been 'improved' suddenly his outlook changed and he had the ability to standup and speak. Tom smiled softly at the irony.

Ronald Weasley was full of moronic comments, even after he was offered his greatest desire. Tom knew that as long as he waited for a bit he would eventually get Ron his wish. He had no doubt he would convince Ron to do what he wanted him to do, it was the waiting for him to get around to it that annoyed Tom so much.

He did manage to note that talking to Hermione in her element didn't seem to work. The one time he managed to bring her into his memory world, she seemed more confused then willing to talk. He had to admit that trying to talk to her in the shower wasn't a brilliant idea, but he wasn't yet strong enough to fully appear with out the help of his reflection and the bathroom was filled with them.

What he needed was for Hermione to write in him once again. It was true, he got the same amount of energy from her as he did from anyone else but he needed to talk to _her_ again. Tom Riddle who felt no connection with anyone felt the need to offer something to the girl who freed him. He felt indebted to her, he felt the need to do something for her since she had brought his desire of freedom into view.

But, instead of Hermione, he had Ron and Neville and soon to be Harry- which wasn't offering much.

When he finally grew tired of standing around scowling, he walked over to the fire place and watched the embers blossom into ash. It was strange for him to be in the Gryffindor common room, it was one of the few places in his memory world of Hogwarts that did not exist. Tom had never wanted to enter the Gryffindor dormitories -old rivalries die hard between Slytherin and its enemies- so he never did. Being there was peculiar to him, to see a world of color other then that of his familiar Slytherin green.

Quiet footsteps sounded behind him causing him to tilt his head in interest. Hermione had managed to fumble down the stairs and was currently wearing what looking like the skirt of her uniform and large maroon sweater. Her hair was still damp and only one of her socks was pulled up properly. She obviously couldn't see him, he wasn't standing near anything that could reflect so he was given the opportunity to observe. She paused to look around the room, making sure she was indeed alone. All the while she kept playing with the bag that hung limply at her shoulder.

Tom couldn't help but feel slightly amused for a moment when watching her. The sofa in front of the fire was vacant but soon occupied by the shaking girl. He hadn't noticed before but she chewing her bottom lip with incredible ferocity . She looked down at it her lap before glancing around the room again and pulling a small maroon book into her lap.

Instantly Tom felt his interest pique at the sight of the familiar little book.

Quietly she opened it and pulling out a quill and ink bottle from her bag she gently wrote 'Hello' across its pages. She pulled pack and sighed a long relaxing slow sigh.

Tom stared at the book a good long while feeling the ecstasy of new ink flow through him. As time passed Hermione shifted uncomfortably and waited for a response. Tom glanced around the room a few times before realizing he needed to respond to her.

Quickly he whipped a quill from nowhere and leaned over her shoulder to write a quick and and hasty 'Hermione,' across the page. Pulling back he heard her sigh with relief. Standing behind her he peered over her to read what she wrote.

'I'm sorry Tom, I didn't mean to leave you out there.'

Tom smirked with the thought of her worrying about him... then he mentally slapped himself.

Leaning against the back of the sofa with his free hand, he reached around her and wrote, 'Its all right. I wasn't lonely.'

Hermione mouthed a quiet "Oh," and afterwords he regretted making her feel so worthless. She leaned forward again and scribbled down a response, 'Well I was.'

Tom stared at the message long after it had faded away. When he did not respond she scrolled down a new message for him.

'Things are different Tom. Nothing seems right anymore. I feel so...' She pulled back and attempted to figure out her wording aloud "I feel so... so..." Tom felt a sense of empathy for her. He knew what she was trying to say and wrote it out for her.

'Alone?'

That lonely feeling, that horrible sense of being unwanted was the one thing Tom understood. Before he realized what he was doing, he whispered the foreboding word that represented all of his agony in his dark world.

Hermione looked up. "Yes," she whispered almost choking on her own words.

"I will never leave you alone." Tom whispered into her ear before he could stop himself. He knew now what he could give her to repay her now. Hermione turned and seemed to gaze directly into the dark abyss he called his soul.

"Never?" She whispered with her eyes filled with a plea he couldn't understand.

Tom stood there leaning over her for moments that seemed to stretch like hours before he realized that she could see him.


	10. The lies we tell Ourselves

The lies we tell Ourselves

"What are you?" Hermione whispered softly, her voice barely audible. Tom was only briefly caught off guard, her blank stare quickly shifted into a smirk that could almost be identified with a certain Malfoy family. Tom could feel his strength waning, he knew he only had seconds with her.

With perfect Riddle prestige, he whispered, "I _am_ Tom Riddle" before he faded away. Hermione sat perfectly still, continuing to stare into the place where he had stood a moment before.

Tom Riddle hadn't moved either. His gaze never faltered although his smirk had long since faded. Something kept him drawn in, kept him staring. Hermione's eyes were wide and bright, her breath as shallow as a puddle. He wanted to say something else, something meaningful, just... something at all.

He had been there; she had felt his breath on her neck as had written her name in the diary. She had felt his presence; she _knew_ that he had been there. Didn't she?

Her body began to quiver softly before she eventually broke down and cried. Tears streamed down her face as she sought to figure out what was going wrong. If Tom was real then she wanted to help him, she wanted to be with him.

Because, she knew that if Tom wasn't real… she had a very... big problem.

Unexpectedly, there was a loud noise and swearing. Hermione instinctively shoved the diary under the couch cushion. She turned around to see Neville reaching down in the open portal to pick up his fallen books. He looked like a mess; his hair had obviously been retained by a hat for quite sometime as a large crease went across his forehead.

The fat lady was oddly silent compared to the previous encounter with one another; she was probably off sulking in another painting. Neville was wearing his usual rumpled uniform but instead of his usual rugged shoes he wore a pair of new leather dress shoes.

"Hello, haven't seen you for a few days. Heard you got kicked out of Snape's class." When she didn't respond he looked up from his stack of books.

"Hermione? Are you all right?" As he approached her he saw her tear stained face and his casual facade faded. Hermione gasped before turning away and rubbing her face dry.

"Fine, just reading a sad story that's all," she managed to get out with some amount of calm. Neville's gaze darkened as he walked over to the table to set his books down.

"Hermione," he started not quite sure what to exactly say. "If there is something bothering you, you know you can always tell me." He walked over and sat next to her on the little couch which only seemed to add to the tension. Hermione couldn't help but tense up as he reached over and touched her hand. Instinctively she jerked her hand back before looking up and forcing out a small smile.

"I am just a little under pressure right now. I think I'm having a little melt down." She shrugged hoping that her lie came across truthfully enough. Neville slowly pulled his hand back, doubtfulness written all over his face.

"Is someone bothering you? I've been hearing some of the girls telling stories of you screaming and running about. I am worried about you."

Hermione didn't know what to say, the truth would only bring her more problems. She could easily picture herself being dragged off to St. Mungo's with Neville waving and telling her it would be alright. No, there was no way she was going to tell him that.

"Its just stress Neville, I've gotten overwhelmed with all of my studying for the N.E.W.T.S." She showed a bigger smile this time and prayed that he would just go away.

Neville sat for a moment just looking at her. _Please believe me Neville; just let me figure it out first._

Eventually he sighed and stood up. "Hermione… just stay safe. Goodnight." He quickly gathered his books before heading to the boys dormitories. Hermione let out a sigh and relaxed before picking up and looking at the diary.

Hermione ran her fingers across the decorative gold lettering and flipped through the empty pages. She let out a long sigh before she even dared to pick up and start writing again. However, this time when she opened the book a message was already being written in eloquently scrolled handwriting.

'Look out the window.' Hermione hesitantly put the book down and turned towards the outer wall. Rain gently patted against the glass against the dark moonless night. Slowly she got to her feet and quietly walked over to the closest window. Hermione felt a sudden chill and couldn't help but notice her goose bumps as she approached the dark glass.

Slowly her reflection came into focus. When she was about an arms length from the window she stopped. She hadn't noticed how she was barely breathing until Tom Riddle appeared behind her. Hermione choked back a yelp as she turned around to look into the empty space behind her. Tom wasn't there; he only existed in the reflection at that moment.

Turning back to the mirror Hermione nervously smiled. Upon seeing Hermione's calmer demeanor emerge Tom couldn't help but smile a soft Malfoy-esque smile.

"Hermione," she saw him say but only heard the faintest whisper.

"Yes Tom?" She whispered back as she saw him reach out and touch the side of her face. She could feel the slightest of touches as though a feather had brushed across her cheek.

"You aren't crazy; it will all be understood soon." And with that he walked away before anything else could be said.

-----

The next morning Hermione arouse with an energy she had not felt for a while. After the mini meltdown that she had experienced the night before, she felt as though the world had been reopened for her. Tom was safe in her school bag and as far as she was concerned it was going to be a good day.

Neville was waiting for her at breakfast a little more morose then usual. Ginny was off with her friends while Ron and Harry were arguing about quidditch.

"Hi Harry. Hello Ron." Hermione had smiled and happily walked past them waving. The entire group of students surrounding them turned to face her and her obvious turn of emotion. Neville didn't quite share her enthusiasm.

"So why are you so happy this morning?" He had asked with a mopey tone as he ate his eggs.

"Well, after talking to you last night I just felt better." Hermione found herself lying too easily to her friend. However, Neville's mood seemed to lift a little as he drank his glass of milk. "What are you planning on doing today?"

Neville shrugged, "I think I'm going to head down to the green houses to help out with the first years. They never seem to understand what to do." He avoided Hermione's gaze as he scarfed down the rest of his meal. "Anyway, I've got a paper I have to finish so I'll see you after class."

Hermione felt a pang of guilt as she watched Neville walk away. Her reaction the night before to him touching her probably hadn't been the best. _Well_, she thought,_ there's no use worrying about it right now_.

In potions, Snape was the first to notice her upbeat mood as he slunk around the classroom judging his students.

"Miss Granger," he announced when he reached her seat.

"Professor." She responded without missing a beat. Snape paused for a moment looking at the ceiling before he responded.

"Miss Granger, why have you not added the ground flaghorn?"

Hermione stopped and examined the instructions before flushing. She had never made such an elementary mistake before. They had started the potions over a week before hand and the flaghorn had been part of the initial step. Her potion should have been a crystal slate color, not a dreary grey.

"Miss Granger. This assignment was to be finished by the end of the week, you have failed to achieve so far and it is very doubtful that you..." Snape's voice faded away as Hermione stared into space. She had become so distracted by everything that she had, for the first time in her life, gotten buried alive by her school work. Well, in any case it was the first time that she ruined a potion so drastically.

Transfiguration didn't go much better, but it wasn't a disaster like potions had been. It really went rather well but Hermione had become so self conscious at that point that she tried to put on a know-it-all face to hide it. This only managed to irritate those around her, which didn't matter to much but it was frustrating.

During lunch, Hermione didn't meet up with Neville like she had originally intended to do. Instead she went outside into one of the empty courtyards to sort through her thoughts. The cool fall air whisked around the courtyard sending leaves fluttering in circles and the smell of autumn entered Hogwarts.

Tom slinked around the halls following her to the deserted enclosure. Although it had only been a day, he was already starting to feel weak. He longed for the power he felt when he was flooded with ink. Hermione hadn't even looked at the diary since the night before. Like an addict, he was already craving for her to pull out a quill.

_Neville will understand, he probably won't even miss me too much_.

Hermione fought to ease her guilty mind as she sat down on an old stone bench. Hermione brushed her hair behind her ears and pulled her books unto her lap. As she flipped through her pile she couldn't help but sigh in sadness.

Tom was becoming a distraction. She wasn't behaving like she used to, she was slacking in her school work. This was not her; she was an intelligent individual who could do anything she wanted to. She almost felt as though she had to prove to everyone that she wasn't just a mudblood like the boys called her. It was such a foul name to describe what she was.

She looked down at the diary and sighed. A very minute part of her was almost ashamed of where she had come from. Years of being teased can really affect how you look at yourself. That was one of the few downsides to Hogwarts, everyone knew everything about everyone since they all grew up together. Couldn't they just look at her and call her a witch like she was?

She didn't feel the need to tell Tom, she enjoyed having a friend who didn't judge her. It was always an underlying sensation; she always felt that they all judged her for it. That was why she always tried _so_ hard to be good at everything. She was naturally smart, smarter then anyone she knew for that matter. But she combined her intelligence with sheer willpower to succeed and that is what made her so successful. She wanted Tom to see _who_ she was, not _what_ she was.

Tom tried to reach up and touch a falling leaf but passed right through him. He was too weak to be able to move things in the physical world. Although he still had enough energy to travel into her world and back to his he didn't want to waste his energy.

Hermione pulled out a bottle of ink and slowly opened the diary's pages.

'Tom, I saw you last night.' Hermione chose to take a coy approach to the situation.

Tom smirked and sat down next to her.

'I see you right now, Hermione.' Hermione inhaled sharply and looked away. The idea of him being around her unseen made her blush and feel self-conscious. A small awkward smile passed over her face as Tom pondered what to say. He liked to see her slightly unnerved, it was much more appealing then when she was flipping out. But, he decided to ask her permission in a round about sort of way. Not that it really mattered to him if she didn't want him around, she would never know if he didn't want her to.

'Would you rather me go away?' He wrote across the page in unusually small writing.

"No!" Hermione instantly reacted to his obvious attempt at bashfulness. She had shrieked a little more loudly then she intended to and her hands were swiftly there to cover her red face. Tom felt a chill go down his spine after hearing her response.

It was so strange what fifty lonely years could do to you. He was still him; he wasn't that much different then he had been when he first entered the book. Fifty years of loneliness could make a person crave a connection. He usually did a very good job at keep up an air of superiority around others. But, for once in his life he didn't seem to notice that he longed to have someone to talk to.

'Hermione?' He asked pretending that he hadn't heard to spare her the embarrassment.

It took her a moment, but she smacked her hands across her face just to make sure she was awake.

'No, Tom, I enjoy...' She paused for a moment unsure as to what she should say. 'I enjoy your company very much.'

Tom smiled at her small confession. Perhaps he would soon be strong enough to appear to her again. It would take even less time if Ron would get his jobs done. Minions were much easier to control when you actually existed to control them.

'Tom, I need to study. I will talk to you tomorrow.' Before he could respond, Hermione had already closed the diary and pulled out a textbook. There would be no more ink from her that evening, he would have to search elsewhere. _Perhaps the Slytherin common room is a good place to start..._

And for the first time since he had emerged from the book, Tom Riddle left his diary behind to those who would do his bidding.


End file.
